Hindustan Unilever just posted its results for the quarter ending March 2018. A healthy 14% year-on-year increase in net profit mostly attributable to a poor base quarter. HUL stock price promptly went up from around 1504 to 1574, a 4% increase in a couple of days. It is now valued at 65 times Earnings This means, If HUL’s profits stay the same and it paid out all of it’s profits to shareholders, it would take 65 years for a shareholder to recover her current buy price. For context, the NIFTY is at 27 times earnings. Chart shows HUL Earnings and

People in the market aren’t happy. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Not after a landmark electoral mandate and all the promises it held. The professionals were unanimous. India was poised for takeoff and so were India’s stock markets… Dec 2014: Nifty to hit 9,500 by end-2015 on capital inflows: Goldman Sachs (link) Nov 2014: UBS sees Nifty at 9,600 by 2015-end (link) Sep 2014: See Nifty at 10,700 by Dec 2015: Bank NIfty to lead: JM Financial (link) But looks like noone told the Nifty. Departing from script, after steadily rising to the cusp of 9,000 at the beginning of March 2015, it

Let’s say you recognize the corrosive nature of inflation, doff your hat to the marvel that is compounding and realize why equities are critical to wealth-building. Good going already. You’d now like to build your very own stock portfolio that you hope will grow your wealth manifold over the years. Fantastic! So, how do you find your first stock? Where to look One way is to flip through the pink papers or to CNBC to see what stocks the talking heads are eagerly touting as the next big thing. It is also probably the worst way. Reading the Financial Times to prepare for markets